Heads, Features and Faces (Dover Anatomy for Artists)

By George B. Bridgman

Book Overview

Properly rendering human heads, features, and faces numbers among the most challenging aspects of figure drawing and painting. This concise and useful book-written by a world-renowned art instructor-is entirely devoted to the artistic study of the human head and its deep capacity for detail and expression. With more than half a century's worth of experience as an artist and lecturer at the Art Students League of New York, George B. Bridgman is a uniquely qualified instructor. His clearly articulated lessons are accompanied by nearly 200 examples and diagrams that demonstrate how best to portray heads, features, and faces.

Bridgman emphasizes the importance of understanding the relationships between facial features and the planes of the head. He considers round and square forms; how to draw the head at eye level, above eye level, and below eye level; and eyes, noses, mouths, and ears individually. Lessons are also included on light and shadow, comparative measurements, and the principles of oval and cube constructions. The ultimate beginner's guide to accurately rendering the human head, Heads, Features and Faces is a must-have for any serious study of human figures.

Readers interested in related titles from George B. Bridgman will also want to see: The Book of a Hundred Hands (ISBN: 1626543453).

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1626544964
• ISBN13: 9781626544963
• Release Date: February 2016
• Publisher: Echo Point Books & Media
• Length: 66 Pages
• Weight: 0.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

New Library

Being an artist and having been an art teacher, losing all of my books and references in hurricane Katrina was devastating. I have been trying to replenish the best books for references since then. The books by Bridgman are some of the best around. I was pleased to find these and look forward to building my library back to where it once was. I recommend these books for both the amateur and professional. Thank you. B. Seabolt

Heads, Features and Faces

This book is very helpful - there are basic instructions and rules to apply to drawing the head, specific features of the head and the face. The information contained within is very valuable, plus the visual images are exceptionally instructive to the student of portraiture.Heads, Features and Faces

Short, but very good book of techniques

For the price, I don't think you can get a better book on drawing human heads. Bridgman illustrates a structural approach to the head and its features. (I agree that his language it sometimes a bit difficult to follow, but the sketches show everything you need to know about his technique). The book covers basic proportions of the head, an introduction about how to approach the head as a series of planes, how to draw the eyes, nose, ears, and mouth in a structural way, a brief comparision of adult to child head proportions, and an introduction to how to draw the heads at different perspectives. Overall, it's a short book, but it's packed with valuable techniques that have definitely improved my portrait drawings.

This would be a start for me

to explore and capture some facial expressions when drawing pictures of people. I'm an artist and I want to take my artwork to a higher ground and this book would be the template for future drawings.